If you go through the whole thread, pollution, deforestation climate changes are covered. Plastic bags is just one aspect of the problem.shivaathervedi wrote: Why just plastic bags!!
Plastic bags are by product of crude oil. What about pollution created by burning petrol/gasoline in motor cycles to airplanes. What about factories throwing millions of tons of smoke in air every day. What about garbage every where mostly in 3rd world countries. Is spirituality dead there?
Environment and Spirituality
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shivaathervedi
- Posts: 1107
- Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 10:39 pm
I know the subject as you know it. I wrote 30 pages thesis for my college exams on climate change. My objection was plastic bags vs spirituality. Is soul affected by plastic bags during ibadat?kmaherali wrote:If you go through the whole thread, pollution, deforestation climate changes are covered. Plastic bags is just one aspect of the problem.shivaathervedi wrote: Why just plastic bags!!
Plastic bags are by product of crude oil. What about pollution created by burning petrol/gasoline in motor cycles to airplanes. What about factories throwing millions of tons of smoke in air every day. What about garbage every where mostly in 3rd world countries. Is spirituality dead there?
There is a direct relationship between the environment and our spiritual lives as per speech of MHI:shivaathervedi wrote: I know the subject as you know it. I wrote 30 pages thesis for my college exams on climate change. My objection was plastic bags vs spirituality. Is soul affected by plastic bags during ibadat?
"Islam does not deal in dichotomies but in all encompassing unity. Spirit and body are one, man and nature are one. What is more, man is answerable to God for what man has created. Many of our greatest architectural achievements were designed to reflect the promises of life hereafter, to represent in this world what we are told of the next. Since all that we see and do resonates on the faith, the aesthetics of the environment we build and the quality of the social interactions that take place within those environments, reverberate on our spiritual life. The physical structure of Islam is therefore an important concern for me, charged as I am with the leadership of a Muslim community."
http://www.akdn.org/speech/his-highness ... re-revival
Hence since accumulation of plastics effects our environment, they impact our spiritual lives.
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shivaathervedi
- Posts: 1107
- Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 10:39 pm
You have selected an excerpt from a speech delivered by Hazar Imam and this is not a FARMAN. I dare not to criticize a Farman or A speech of Imam, but I have a question. In Imam's words "SPIRIT AND BODY ARE ONE". Question arises when a person is dead soul leaves the body then how they be one. Body is on the ground and soul is disappeared, so they are not one.kmaherali wrote:There is a direct relationship between the environment and our spiritual lives as per speech of MHI:shivaathervedi wrote: I know the subject as you know it. I wrote 30 pages thesis for my college exams on climate change. My objection was plastic bags vs spirituality. Is soul affected by plastic bags during ibadat?
"Islam does not deal in dichotomies but in all encompassing unity. Spirit and body are one, man and nature are one. What is more, man is answerable to God for what man has created. Many of our greatest architectural achievements were designed to reflect the promises of life hereafter, to represent in this world what we are told of the next. Since all that we see and do resonates on the faith, the aesthetics of the environment we build and the quality of the social interactions that take place within those environments, reverberate on our spiritual life. The physical structure of Islam is therefore an important concern for me, charged as I am with the leadership of a Muslim community."
http://www.akdn.org/speech/his-highness ... re-revival
Hence since accumulation of plastics effects our environment, they impact our spiritual lives.
EJI URR GAYA HUNS PARI RAHI PAARI
OR
EJI PAARI REY BHAGSI NEER SUBB DHULANA
MHI says in his Farman: The soul is born and takes a physical form. So we are essentially soul assuming a bodily form. At death one facet of the soul is discarded or shed away just as body cells die and are shed away and are renewed by new cells. The soul continues after the body is shed away. It may continue in astral form or may merge into the Spirit.shivaathervedi wrote: You have selected an excerpt from a speech delivered by Hazar Imam and this is not a FARMAN. I dare not to criticize a Farman or A speech of Imam, but I have a question. In Imam's words "SPIRIT AND BODY ARE ONE". Question arises when a person is dead soul leaves the body then how they be one. Body is on the ground and soul is disappeared, so they are not one.
EJI URR GAYA HUNS PARI RAHI PAARI
OR
EJI PAARI REY BHAGSI NEER SUBB DHULANA
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shivaathervedi
- Posts: 1107
- Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 10:39 pm
You wrote," The soul continues after the body is shed away".kmaherali wrote:MHI says in his Farman: The soul is born and takes a physical form. So we are essentially soul assuming a bodily form. At death one facet of the soul is discarded or shed away just as body cells die and are shed away and are renewed by new cells. The soul continues after the body is shed away. It may continue in astral form or may merge into the Spirit.shivaathervedi wrote: You have selected an excerpt from a speech delivered by Hazar Imam and this is not a FARMAN. I dare not to criticize a Farman or A speech of Imam, but I have a question. In Imam's words "SPIRIT AND BODY ARE ONE". Question arises when a person is dead soul leaves the body then how they be one. Body is on the ground and soul is disappeared, so they are not one.
EJI URR GAYA HUNS PARI RAHI PAARI
OR
EJI PAARI REY BHAGSI NEER SUBB DHULANA
So, soul left the body behind and disappears some where else, means these are two different things otherwise soul and body should have disappeared simultaneously.
Dust goes to dust, garbage goes to garbage, and soul goes to Universal soul.
The relationship between the soul and body can be considered like banana. When the banana skin is peeled off it still remains a facet of the banana. Similarly when the body which is a facet of the soul still is considered a facet of the soul even while decaying after death. The eternal facet of the soul journeys on.shivaathervedi wrote: You wrote," The soul continues after the body is shed away".
So, soul left the body behind and disappears some where else, means these are two different things otherwise soul and body should have disappeared simultaneously.
Dust goes to dust, garbage goes to garbage, and soul goes to Universal soul.
Faith and fossil fuels
From green theory to contentious green action
How fast should religious investors divest from oil, gas and coal?
BACK in 1988, a modest cleric who was little known outside his home city of Istanbul gave his blessing to an environmental meeting on the Greek island of Patmos, a place associated with a terrifying vision of the apocalypse described in the last book of the Bible. Soon afterwards, Patriarch Dimitrios proposed that September 1st become a yearly day of prayer for the fate of the earth.
Three decades on, that initiative has been turned into an entire month of eco-spiritual activities, backed by religious leaders who speak for hundreds of millions of people. It has been taken up by the World Council of Churches, grouping 345 religious bodies, and the Vatican. And in the process, lofty theological theory has been combined with a new emphasis on concrete, and often highly contentious, forms of action.
More...
https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus ... lydispatch
From green theory to contentious green action
How fast should religious investors divest from oil, gas and coal?
BACK in 1988, a modest cleric who was little known outside his home city of Istanbul gave his blessing to an environmental meeting on the Greek island of Patmos, a place associated with a terrifying vision of the apocalypse described in the last book of the Bible. Soon afterwards, Patriarch Dimitrios proposed that September 1st become a yearly day of prayer for the fate of the earth.
Three decades on, that initiative has been turned into an entire month of eco-spiritual activities, backed by religious leaders who speak for hundreds of millions of people. It has been taken up by the World Council of Churches, grouping 345 religious bodies, and the Vatican. And in the process, lofty theological theory has been combined with a new emphasis on concrete, and often highly contentious, forms of action.
More...
https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus ... lydispatch
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shivaathervedi
- Posts: 1107
- Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 10:39 pm
A monkey jumped from a tree grab the banana and ate it. Now that facet of banana merged with monkey without the soul departed.kmaherali wrote:The relationship between the soul and body can be considered like banana. When the banana skin is peeled off it still remains a facet of the banana. Similarly when the body which is a facet of the soul still is considered a facet of the soul even while decaying after death. The eternal facet of the soul journeys on.shivaathervedi wrote: You wrote," The soul continues after the body is shed away".
So, soul left the body behind and disappears some where else, means these are two different things otherwise soul and body should have disappeared simultaneously.
Dust goes to dust, garbage goes to garbage, and soul goes to Universal soul.
Religion and climate change
The Dalai Lama’s planet
Tibet’s spiritual leader joins the chorus of religious voices linking catastrophic climate change to American indifference
WHEN religious leaders speak out on matters of global policy, they often stick to lofty generalities and avoid making direct challenges to those who wield earthly power. Not so this week. In the space of barely 24 hours, Donald Trump and his perceived indifference to environmental concerns were the object of stern rebukes from two spiritual champions.
One was the Dalai Lama, who was visiting one of his favourite charities (Children in Crossfire, which helps kids in war zones), based in Northern Ireland’s second city, known officially as Derry-Londonderry. Asked if he had a message to send to Mr Trump, he replied, “His view about ecology…he does not consider it important, and with that I disagree.” The Tibetan spiritual leader added, “Now I think America is learning lessons on the importance of ecology…on the east coast, floods, and on the west coast, [forest] fires. The most industrialised nation and the leading nation of the free world should [have] more respect regarding ecology.”
The Dalai Lama said America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord made him “quite sad”. He was particularly concerned by the threat to the snows of the Tibetan plateau, one of the earth’s natural water tables, which are sometimes said to be as ecologically sensitive as the two polar regions.
An almost equally open reprimand, whose context made the meaning perfectly clear, was issued by Pope Francis as he spoke to reporters on a flight home from Colombia to Rome. A journalist, who pointed out that the aircraft had flown near the path of Hurricane Irma and the areas it had devastated, asked whether any moral responsibility lay with politicians who refused to collaborate with global efforts to curb greenhouse gases. Francis replied, “Whoever denies this should go to the scientists and ask them. They speak very clearly. The scientists are precise…Climate change, you see the effects and scientists say clearly which is the path to follow. And all of us have a responsibility,…a little one, a big one, a moral responsibility…and we have to take it seriously.”
The pontiff said he had been struck by news reports that whole swathes of the Arctic were becoming navigable as the ice melted, and by the warning from at least one leading scientist that humanity had three years to change course or face irreversible disaster. Against this sombre background, he said, “history will judge” whether the right decisions were taken.
Because of both leaders’ high personal stature, their reprimands will be taken seriously. But doubtless there will be a segment of listeners who respond that, precisely because they pertain to worldly and material matters, such pronouncements are not binding on the faithful.
Among such peole may be Stephen Bannon, a former White House adviser who is a devout Catholic but has sharply attacked the leaders of his church on the question of immigration, accusing them of favouring unlimited entry into the country as a way of filling their own pews. He sees no contradiction. Although he could “totally respect” the authority of Catholic bishops when they speak on issues of religious doctrine, he has said he feels free to disagree with the prelates about practical matters that have nothing to do with doctrine.
Is the fate of the earth a practical matter or a doctrinal one? Well, that in itself is a doctrinal question.
https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus ... lydispatch
The Dalai Lama’s planet
Tibet’s spiritual leader joins the chorus of religious voices linking catastrophic climate change to American indifference
WHEN religious leaders speak out on matters of global policy, they often stick to lofty generalities and avoid making direct challenges to those who wield earthly power. Not so this week. In the space of barely 24 hours, Donald Trump and his perceived indifference to environmental concerns were the object of stern rebukes from two spiritual champions.
One was the Dalai Lama, who was visiting one of his favourite charities (Children in Crossfire, which helps kids in war zones), based in Northern Ireland’s second city, known officially as Derry-Londonderry. Asked if he had a message to send to Mr Trump, he replied, “His view about ecology…he does not consider it important, and with that I disagree.” The Tibetan spiritual leader added, “Now I think America is learning lessons on the importance of ecology…on the east coast, floods, and on the west coast, [forest] fires. The most industrialised nation and the leading nation of the free world should [have] more respect regarding ecology.”
The Dalai Lama said America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord made him “quite sad”. He was particularly concerned by the threat to the snows of the Tibetan plateau, one of the earth’s natural water tables, which are sometimes said to be as ecologically sensitive as the two polar regions.
An almost equally open reprimand, whose context made the meaning perfectly clear, was issued by Pope Francis as he spoke to reporters on a flight home from Colombia to Rome. A journalist, who pointed out that the aircraft had flown near the path of Hurricane Irma and the areas it had devastated, asked whether any moral responsibility lay with politicians who refused to collaborate with global efforts to curb greenhouse gases. Francis replied, “Whoever denies this should go to the scientists and ask them. They speak very clearly. The scientists are precise…Climate change, you see the effects and scientists say clearly which is the path to follow. And all of us have a responsibility,…a little one, a big one, a moral responsibility…and we have to take it seriously.”
The pontiff said he had been struck by news reports that whole swathes of the Arctic were becoming navigable as the ice melted, and by the warning from at least one leading scientist that humanity had three years to change course or face irreversible disaster. Against this sombre background, he said, “history will judge” whether the right decisions were taken.
Because of both leaders’ high personal stature, their reprimands will be taken seriously. But doubtless there will be a segment of listeners who respond that, precisely because they pertain to worldly and material matters, such pronouncements are not binding on the faithful.
Among such peole may be Stephen Bannon, a former White House adviser who is a devout Catholic but has sharply attacked the leaders of his church on the question of immigration, accusing them of favouring unlimited entry into the country as a way of filling their own pews. He sees no contradiction. Although he could “totally respect” the authority of Catholic bishops when they speak on issues of religious doctrine, he has said he feels free to disagree with the prelates about practical matters that have nothing to do with doctrine.
Is the fate of the earth a practical matter or a doctrinal one? Well, that in itself is a doctrinal question.
https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus ... lydispatch
Follow Kenya’s Lead on Plastic Bags
Plastic bags are often used for a few minutes before enjoying an eternal afterlife, clogging storm drains, stuffing landfills, killing animals that eat them and contributing to the eight million metric tons of plastic that end up in the world’s oceans every year.
Last month, Kenya took strong action to tackle the scourge. Manufacturers and importers of plastic bags now face fines of $19,000 to $38,000 or four-year-jail terms. Retailers can no longer sell plastic garbage bags. Shoppers risk having plastic bags confiscated.
The ban imposes more difficulties on many Kenyans than just the inconvenience of getting reusable bags. Poor residents of Nairobi rely on plastic bags as “flying toilets” in the absence of a functioning sewage system and of public toilets that don’t charge a fee. The solution is to provide more toilets and latrines.
These human waste-filled bags clog trenches leading to the Nairobi River and have been blamed for the flooding that regularly menaces the city. In 2015, plastic bags clogging waterways were blamed for flooding that killed at least 150 people in Accra, Ghana.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/opin ... dline&te=1
Plastic bags are often used for a few minutes before enjoying an eternal afterlife, clogging storm drains, stuffing landfills, killing animals that eat them and contributing to the eight million metric tons of plastic that end up in the world’s oceans every year.
Last month, Kenya took strong action to tackle the scourge. Manufacturers and importers of plastic bags now face fines of $19,000 to $38,000 or four-year-jail terms. Retailers can no longer sell plastic garbage bags. Shoppers risk having plastic bags confiscated.
The ban imposes more difficulties on many Kenyans than just the inconvenience of getting reusable bags. Poor residents of Nairobi rely on plastic bags as “flying toilets” in the absence of a functioning sewage system and of public toilets that don’t charge a fee. The solution is to provide more toilets and latrines.
These human waste-filled bags clog trenches leading to the Nairobi River and have been blamed for the flooding that regularly menaces the city. In 2015, plastic bags clogging waterways were blamed for flooding that killed at least 150 people in Accra, Ghana.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/opin ... dline&te=1
Why Sustainability Makes Good Business Sense
You’ve likely heard of business “going green.” From installing solar panels on rooftops, utilising recycling bins, and switching off lights after hours, there are a number of ways both employers and employees can adjust their behaviour to operate in an environmentally responsible way.
But that’s just one part of building a sustainable business. Along with environmental well-being, it’s also about social impact and economic viability. This could include skills training for employees, and improving the quality of life in the communities in which you operate in.
Sustainability at What Cost?
There’s often a misconception that sustainability initiatives are expensive and will erode profits. On the contrary, it has shown to be beneficial for business owners from the bottom-line up.
Using the example of Egyptian agri-business SEKEM, that used biodynamic agricultural methods to start Egypt’s first organic farm in the middle of the desert forty years ago, a Harvard Business Review article titled ‘Making Sustainability Profitable’ offers three approaches for companies to ensure their environmental efforts pay off financially:
◾Many, like Sekem, took a long-term view, investing in initially more-expensive methods of sustainable operation that eventually led to dramatically lower costs and higher yields.
◾Others have taken a ‘bootstrap’ approach to conservation: they started with small changes to their processes that generated substantial cost savings, which they then used to fund advanced technologies that made production even more efficient.
◾Some have spread their sustainability efforts to the operations of their customers and suppliers, in the process devising new business models that competitors find hard to emulate.
You don’t need to incur high costs upfront, but rather adopt a model that works with your available resources, and adapt it to your sector.
That’s exactly what AccorHotels set out to do when they launched their internal sustainability management system, dubbed Charter 21, which recommends over 60 actions hotels can take to reduce their environmental footprint.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/sponsored/20 ... -216274365
You’ve likely heard of business “going green.” From installing solar panels on rooftops, utilising recycling bins, and switching off lights after hours, there are a number of ways both employers and employees can adjust their behaviour to operate in an environmentally responsible way.
But that’s just one part of building a sustainable business. Along with environmental well-being, it’s also about social impact and economic viability. This could include skills training for employees, and improving the quality of life in the communities in which you operate in.
Sustainability at What Cost?
There’s often a misconception that sustainability initiatives are expensive and will erode profits. On the contrary, it has shown to be beneficial for business owners from the bottom-line up.
Using the example of Egyptian agri-business SEKEM, that used biodynamic agricultural methods to start Egypt’s first organic farm in the middle of the desert forty years ago, a Harvard Business Review article titled ‘Making Sustainability Profitable’ offers three approaches for companies to ensure their environmental efforts pay off financially:
◾Many, like Sekem, took a long-term view, investing in initially more-expensive methods of sustainable operation that eventually led to dramatically lower costs and higher yields.
◾Others have taken a ‘bootstrap’ approach to conservation: they started with small changes to their processes that generated substantial cost savings, which they then used to fund advanced technologies that made production even more efficient.
◾Some have spread their sustainability efforts to the operations of their customers and suppliers, in the process devising new business models that competitors find hard to emulate.
You don’t need to incur high costs upfront, but rather adopt a model that works with your available resources, and adapt it to your sector.
That’s exactly what AccorHotels set out to do when they launched their internal sustainability management system, dubbed Charter 21, which recommends over 60 actions hotels can take to reduce their environmental footprint.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/sponsored/20 ... -216274365
Our Polluted Senses
People who live in densely populated areas are all too familiar with sensory bombardment — the continuous light and noise pollution that has come to practically define the urban environment. Over time, most city dwellers grow so accustomed to this intense stimulation that they cease to notice it. Their perceptual thresholds, we might say, shift upward.
Others, though, see the need for a bulwark against this sensory pollution. In Idaho, where a good amount of pristine earth and sky still exists, officials are proposing the first “dark sky reserve” in the United States (a few smaller areas are already certified as dark sky parks and sanctuaries). If approved, it will strictly limit the use of artificial light to preserve the unique conditions that make the interstellar dust clouds of the Milky Way visible in Central Idaho on a clear night.
Of course, vision and hearing aren’t the only senses subject to pollution; so are smell and taste. Just as the glow of city lights causes twinkling stars to recede from sight, so sugar- and salt-laced foods prevent the palate from experiencing subtler flavors, and strong scents can also overwhelm and confuse our olfactory register.
Even touch, which philosophers since Aristotle have typically treated differently from “distance senses,” can be compromised. Consider that we drastically narrow the field of what can or should be touched, as we spend much of our time caressing the smooth and glassy bodies and touchscreens of our cellphones. It remains to be seen (or touched upon) what this phenomenon might do to our sense of touch.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/opin ... d=45305309
People who live in densely populated areas are all too familiar with sensory bombardment — the continuous light and noise pollution that has come to practically define the urban environment. Over time, most city dwellers grow so accustomed to this intense stimulation that they cease to notice it. Their perceptual thresholds, we might say, shift upward.
Others, though, see the need for a bulwark against this sensory pollution. In Idaho, where a good amount of pristine earth and sky still exists, officials are proposing the first “dark sky reserve” in the United States (a few smaller areas are already certified as dark sky parks and sanctuaries). If approved, it will strictly limit the use of artificial light to preserve the unique conditions that make the interstellar dust clouds of the Milky Way visible in Central Idaho on a clear night.
Of course, vision and hearing aren’t the only senses subject to pollution; so are smell and taste. Just as the glow of city lights causes twinkling stars to recede from sight, so sugar- and salt-laced foods prevent the palate from experiencing subtler flavors, and strong scents can also overwhelm and confuse our olfactory register.
Even touch, which philosophers since Aristotle have typically treated differently from “distance senses,” can be compromised. Consider that we drastically narrow the field of what can or should be touched, as we spend much of our time caressing the smooth and glassy bodies and touchscreens of our cellphones. It remains to be seen (or touched upon) what this phenomenon might do to our sense of touch.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/opin ... d=45305309
The World's Next Environmental Disaster
DELHI—The Yamuna River that flows through this ancient city has helped sustain some of India’s greatest empires. Hindu poets celebrated its life-giving properties. The Mughal dynasty built the Taj Mahal and other monuments along its banks.
Today, the Yamuna is a foul sludge for much of its 855-mile run. In Delhi, it is black and nearly motionless, covered in many areas with a foam of industrial chemicals, floating plastic and human waste.
Every 100 milliliters of the Yamuna in Delhi contains 22 million fecal coliform bacteria, up from 12,250 in 1988, scientists say. Anything over 500 is unsafe for bathing, India’s government says. The comparable standard in Vermont is 235.
Illnesses ranging from diarrhea to brain worms are reported along the river’s edges. By the time the Yamuna exits Delhi, it is so defiled that scientists have declared the next 300 miles “eutrophic,” or incapable of sustaining animal life.
“The fact that I cannot take my children to their own river, in their own city, is for me a tragedy of colossal proportions,” says Pankaj Vir Gupta, a 47-year-old architect and professor who splits time between India and the U.S. “Right now we don’t have a river,” he says. “We have a drain.”
More...
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/th ... ailsignout
******
Public Shaming and Even Prison for Plastic Bag Use in Rwanda
GISENYI, Rwanda — They are sometimes tucked into bras, hidden in underwear or coiled tightly around a smuggler’s arms.
They’re not narcotics or even the illegally mined gold and diamonds that frequently make it across the border into Rwanda. But they are, at least in the eyes of Egide Mberabagabo, a watchful border guard, every bit as nefarious.
The offending contraband? Plastic bags.
“They’re as bad as drugs,” said Mr. Mberabagabo, one of a dozen border officials whose job it is to catch smugglers and dispose of the illicit plastic he finds.
Here in Rwanda, it is illegal to import, produce, use or sell plastic bags and plastic packaging except within specific industries like hospitals and pharmaceuticals. The nation is one of more than 40 around the world that have banned, restricted or taxed the use of plastic bags, including China, France and Italy.
But Rwanda’s approach is on another level. Traffickers caught carrying illegal plastic are liable to be fined, jailed or forced to make public confessions.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/28/worl ... .html?_r=0
DELHI—The Yamuna River that flows through this ancient city has helped sustain some of India’s greatest empires. Hindu poets celebrated its life-giving properties. The Mughal dynasty built the Taj Mahal and other monuments along its banks.
Today, the Yamuna is a foul sludge for much of its 855-mile run. In Delhi, it is black and nearly motionless, covered in many areas with a foam of industrial chemicals, floating plastic and human waste.
Every 100 milliliters of the Yamuna in Delhi contains 22 million fecal coliform bacteria, up from 12,250 in 1988, scientists say. Anything over 500 is unsafe for bathing, India’s government says. The comparable standard in Vermont is 235.
Illnesses ranging from diarrhea to brain worms are reported along the river’s edges. By the time the Yamuna exits Delhi, it is so defiled that scientists have declared the next 300 miles “eutrophic,” or incapable of sustaining animal life.
“The fact that I cannot take my children to their own river, in their own city, is for me a tragedy of colossal proportions,” says Pankaj Vir Gupta, a 47-year-old architect and professor who splits time between India and the U.S. “Right now we don’t have a river,” he says. “We have a drain.”
More...
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/th ... ailsignout
******
Public Shaming and Even Prison for Plastic Bag Use in Rwanda
GISENYI, Rwanda — They are sometimes tucked into bras, hidden in underwear or coiled tightly around a smuggler’s arms.
They’re not narcotics or even the illegally mined gold and diamonds that frequently make it across the border into Rwanda. But they are, at least in the eyes of Egide Mberabagabo, a watchful border guard, every bit as nefarious.
The offending contraband? Plastic bags.
“They’re as bad as drugs,” said Mr. Mberabagabo, one of a dozen border officials whose job it is to catch smugglers and dispose of the illicit plastic he finds.
Here in Rwanda, it is illegal to import, produce, use or sell plastic bags and plastic packaging except within specific industries like hospitals and pharmaceuticals. The nation is one of more than 40 around the world that have banned, restricted or taxed the use of plastic bags, including China, France and Italy.
But Rwanda’s approach is on another level. Traffickers caught carrying illegal plastic are liable to be fined, jailed or forced to make public confessions.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/28/worl ... .html?_r=0
Insect Armageddon
There is alarming new evidence that insect populations worldwide are in rapid decline. As Prof. Dave Goulson of the University of Sussex, a co-author of a new insect study, put it, we are “on course for ecological Armageddon” because “if we lose the insects, then everything is going to collapse.”
The study, which tracked flying insects collected in nature preserves across Germany, found that in just 25 years, the total biomass of these insects declined by an astonishing 76 percent. The reasons for the decline are not entirely clear — and only flying insects were collected, so the fate of crawling insects, for example, is not known — but the scientists suspect two main culprits: the use of pesticides and a lack of habitat in surrounding farmland.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/opin ... stem-.html
There is alarming new evidence that insect populations worldwide are in rapid decline. As Prof. Dave Goulson of the University of Sussex, a co-author of a new insect study, put it, we are “on course for ecological Armageddon” because “if we lose the insects, then everything is going to collapse.”
The study, which tracked flying insects collected in nature preserves across Germany, found that in just 25 years, the total biomass of these insects declined by an astonishing 76 percent. The reasons for the decline are not entirely clear — and only flying insects were collected, so the fate of crawling insects, for example, is not known — but the scientists suspect two main culprits: the use of pesticides and a lack of habitat in surrounding farmland.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/opin ... stem-.html
Our Moral Opportunity on Climate Change
Excerpt:
As people of faith, we don’t just state our beliefs — we live them out. One belief is that we find purpose and joy in loving our neighbors. Another is that we are charged by our creator with taking good care of his creation.
The moral crisis of climate change is an opportunity to find purpose and joy, and to respond to our creator’s charge. Reducing the causes of climate change is essential to the life of faith. It is a way to love our neighbor and to steward the gift of creation.
Indeed, even amid the hurricane-caused devastation and despair of recent weeks, I have seen seeds of hope. Different expressions of the Christian faith are freshly united around the need to care for our common home. The Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox Churches just came together with the World Council of Churches to celebrate a monthlong Season of Creation. During this season, people all around the globe prayed and acted to address climate change and to protect the earth.
The Anglican Communion is responding in many ways. Young Anglicans from across Africa have united with ecumenical neighbors to study local effects of climate change and work on developing local solutions. In Cape Town, a diocesan environmental working group held a Eucharist for creation on Table Mountain. In Canada, the national indigenous Anglican bishop participated in an online prayer service and led an interfaith walk to protect the Great Lakes.
However we choose to respond, a response is necessary.
People of faith have a unique call to address the causes of climate change. As we stand together in our support for the survivors of extreme weather, let us act together in ways that will safeguard our shared gift of creation — and the lives of those who will inherit it from us.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/opin ... 87722&_r=0
Excerpt:
As people of faith, we don’t just state our beliefs — we live them out. One belief is that we find purpose and joy in loving our neighbors. Another is that we are charged by our creator with taking good care of his creation.
The moral crisis of climate change is an opportunity to find purpose and joy, and to respond to our creator’s charge. Reducing the causes of climate change is essential to the life of faith. It is a way to love our neighbor and to steward the gift of creation.
Indeed, even amid the hurricane-caused devastation and despair of recent weeks, I have seen seeds of hope. Different expressions of the Christian faith are freshly united around the need to care for our common home. The Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox Churches just came together with the World Council of Churches to celebrate a monthlong Season of Creation. During this season, people all around the globe prayed and acted to address climate change and to protect the earth.
The Anglican Communion is responding in many ways. Young Anglicans from across Africa have united with ecumenical neighbors to study local effects of climate change and work on developing local solutions. In Cape Town, a diocesan environmental working group held a Eucharist for creation on Table Mountain. In Canada, the national indigenous Anglican bishop participated in an online prayer service and led an interfaith walk to protect the Great Lakes.
However we choose to respond, a response is necessary.
People of faith have a unique call to address the causes of climate change. As we stand together in our support for the survivors of extreme weather, let us act together in ways that will safeguard our shared gift of creation — and the lives of those who will inherit it from us.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/opin ... 87722&_r=0
Plastic fibres found in tap water around the world, study reveals
Exclusive: Tests show billions of people globally are drinking water contaminated by plastic particles, with 83% of samples found to be polluted
Microplastic contamination has been found in tap water in countries around the world, leading to calls from scientists for urgent research on the implications for health.
Scores of tap water samples from more than a dozen nations were analysed by scientists for an investigation by Orb Media, who shared the findings with the Guardian. Overall, 83% of the samples were contaminated with plastic fibres.
More..
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... dy-reveals
*****
Plastics found in stomachs of deepest sea creatures
‘Very worrying finding’ from nearly 11km deep confirms fears that synthetic fibres have contaminated the most remote places on Earth
Animals from the deepest places on Earth have been found with plastic in their stomachs, confirming fears that manmade fibres have contaminated the most remote places on the planet.
The study, led by academics at Newcastle University, found animals from trenches across the Pacific Ocean were contaminated with fibres that probably originated from plastic bottles, packaging and synthetic clothes.
Dr Alan Jamieson, who led the study, said the findings were startling and proved that nowhere on the planet was free from plastics pollution.
'Extraordinary' levels of pollutants found in 10km deep Mariana trench
Read more
“There is now no doubt that plastics pollution is so pervasive that nowhere – no matter how remote – is immune,” he said.
Evidence of the scale of plastic pollution has been growing in recent months. Earlier this year scientists found plastic in 83% of global tapwater samples, while other studies have found plastic in rock salt and fish.
Humans have produced an estimated 8.3bn tonnes of plastic since the 1950s and scientists said it risked near permanent contamination of the planet.
More..
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -creatures
Exclusive: Tests show billions of people globally are drinking water contaminated by plastic particles, with 83% of samples found to be polluted
Microplastic contamination has been found in tap water in countries around the world, leading to calls from scientists for urgent research on the implications for health.
Scores of tap water samples from more than a dozen nations were analysed by scientists for an investigation by Orb Media, who shared the findings with the Guardian. Overall, 83% of the samples were contaminated with plastic fibres.
More..
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... dy-reveals
*****
Plastics found in stomachs of deepest sea creatures
‘Very worrying finding’ from nearly 11km deep confirms fears that synthetic fibres have contaminated the most remote places on Earth
Animals from the deepest places on Earth have been found with plastic in their stomachs, confirming fears that manmade fibres have contaminated the most remote places on the planet.
The study, led by academics at Newcastle University, found animals from trenches across the Pacific Ocean were contaminated with fibres that probably originated from plastic bottles, packaging and synthetic clothes.
Dr Alan Jamieson, who led the study, said the findings were startling and proved that nowhere on the planet was free from plastics pollution.
'Extraordinary' levels of pollutants found in 10km deep Mariana trench
Read more
“There is now no doubt that plastics pollution is so pervasive that nowhere – no matter how remote – is immune,” he said.
Evidence of the scale of plastic pollution has been growing in recent months. Earlier this year scientists found plastic in 83% of global tapwater samples, while other studies have found plastic in rock salt and fish.
Humans have produced an estimated 8.3bn tonnes of plastic since the 1950s and scientists said it risked near permanent contamination of the planet.
More..
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -creatures
The shocking truth about bottled water
25 FACTS YOU NEVER KNEW
Just 50 years ago the thought of buying bottled water when it was freely available from the tap would have seemed absurd to most people. Yet today sales are higher than ever. We look at how much we’re really drinking, how our obsession started and the devastating effect it’s having on our environment.
Slide show:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/foodanddrink/ ... ut#image=1
25 FACTS YOU NEVER KNEW
Just 50 years ago the thought of buying bottled water when it was freely available from the tap would have seemed absurd to most people. Yet today sales are higher than ever. We look at how much we’re really drinking, how our obsession started and the devastating effect it’s having on our environment.
Slide show:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/foodanddrink/ ... ut#image=1
20 images that show how much we've reshaped planet Earth in the past 70 years
Humans have had an unmistakable impact on Earth - one that pops out in sharp relief when you look at this collection of images comparing what specific areas look like now to how they appeared in the past.
In some cases, the images (mostly from NASA, unless otherwise noted) were taken as far as 50 years apart; in other cases, they were snapped with just 10-15 years in between.
Slide show:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/photo ... ut#image=1
Humans have had an unmistakable impact on Earth - one that pops out in sharp relief when you look at this collection of images comparing what specific areas look like now to how they appeared in the past.
In some cases, the images (mostly from NASA, unless otherwise noted) were taken as far as 50 years apart; in other cases, they were snapped with just 10-15 years in between.
Slide show:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/photo ... ut#image=1
Amid the Plunder of Forests, a Ray of Hope
Strange as it may sound, we have arrived at a moment of hope for the world’s forests. It is, admittedly, hope of a jaded variety: After decades of hand-wringing about rampant destruction of forests almost everywhere, investigators have recently demonstrated in extraordinary detail that much of this logging is blatantly illegal.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/27/opin ... d=45305309
Strange as it may sound, we have arrived at a moment of hope for the world’s forests. It is, admittedly, hope of a jaded variety: After decades of hand-wringing about rampant destruction of forests almost everywhere, investigators have recently demonstrated in extraordinary detail that much of this logging is blatantly illegal.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/27/opin ... d=45305309
Why a Big Utility Is Embracing Wind and Solar
Excerpt:
Yet costs for renewable technologies are coming down so much that by the time the federal subsidies expire, wind turbines and large-scale solar arrays will still be competitive in large parts of the country.
The same trend is occurring all over the world, even in countries that do not offer subsidies, with renewable projects routinely beating fossil-fuel projects in countries like Mexico and India. We are confident more price declines are coming.
The costs of huge batteries are also falling, and it looks as if they will turn out to be a big help in managing the variability of wind and solar power. Xcel is already testing a battery project near Denver, and it may buy more batteries as part of the new plan.
How, exactly, did the cleanest energy technologies get on a path to become the cheapest?
In a way, the story is as old as Henry Ford and his Model T, or in more recent times, the amazing progress of computer chips.
As they scale up, new technologies often follow a “learning curve” that cuts the cost. But it’s not automatic. You have to build more and more units to drive the prices down.
That happened naturally with consumer products like Model Ts and cellphones, since everybody who saw the things wanted one. But the electricity system was a hidebound, monopolistic industry that used to spend virtually nothing on innovation.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/opin ... dline&te=1
Excerpt:
Yet costs for renewable technologies are coming down so much that by the time the federal subsidies expire, wind turbines and large-scale solar arrays will still be competitive in large parts of the country.
The same trend is occurring all over the world, even in countries that do not offer subsidies, with renewable projects routinely beating fossil-fuel projects in countries like Mexico and India. We are confident more price declines are coming.
The costs of huge batteries are also falling, and it looks as if they will turn out to be a big help in managing the variability of wind and solar power. Xcel is already testing a battery project near Denver, and it may buy more batteries as part of the new plan.
How, exactly, did the cleanest energy technologies get on a path to become the cheapest?
In a way, the story is as old as Henry Ford and his Model T, or in more recent times, the amazing progress of computer chips.
As they scale up, new technologies often follow a “learning curve” that cuts the cost. But it’s not automatic. You have to build more and more units to drive the prices down.
That happened naturally with consumer products like Model Ts and cellphones, since everybody who saw the things wanted one. But the electricity system was a hidebound, monopolistic industry that used to spend virtually nothing on innovation.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/opin ... dline&te=1
Animals Are Losing Their Vagility, or Ability to Roam Freely
Excerpt:
But a new and growing field called “movement ecology” is casting light on the secretive movements of wildlife and how those habits are changing.
A global study of 57 species of mammals, published in the journal Science, has found that wildlife move far less in landscapes that have been altered by humans, a finding that could have implications for a range of issues, from how well natural systems function to finding ways to protect migratory species.
The large study brought together 114 researchers from across the globe who had gathered information from 803 individual animals. They ranged from the smallest animals that can be collared — pocket mice — to the largest, elephants. Using the GPS collars that updated an animal’s location regularly and other data, the project found that vagility — the ability of an organism to move — declines in areas with human footprints by as much as half to two-thirds the distance than in places where there is little or no human activity.
“It is important that animals move, because in moving they carry out important ecological functions like transporting nutrients and seeds between different areas,” said Marlee Tucker, a biologist at Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center and Goethe University, Frankfurt and the study’s lead author. The ability to move and find food helps keep some imperiled species viable.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/scie ... dline&te=1
Excerpt:
But a new and growing field called “movement ecology” is casting light on the secretive movements of wildlife and how those habits are changing.
A global study of 57 species of mammals, published in the journal Science, has found that wildlife move far less in landscapes that have been altered by humans, a finding that could have implications for a range of issues, from how well natural systems function to finding ways to protect migratory species.
The large study brought together 114 researchers from across the globe who had gathered information from 803 individual animals. They ranged from the smallest animals that can be collared — pocket mice — to the largest, elephants. Using the GPS collars that updated an animal’s location regularly and other data, the project found that vagility — the ability of an organism to move — declines in areas with human footprints by as much as half to two-thirds the distance than in places where there is little or no human activity.
“It is important that animals move, because in moving they carry out important ecological functions like transporting nutrients and seeds between different areas,” said Marlee Tucker, a biologist at Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center and Goethe University, Frankfurt and the study’s lead author. The ability to move and find food helps keep some imperiled species viable.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/scie ... dline&te=1
The known unknowns of plastic pollution
So far, it seems less bad than other kinds of pollution (about which less fuss is made)
Excerpt:
The perception of plastics as ugly, unnatural, inauthentic and disposable is not new. Even in “The Graduate” they symbolised America’s consumerism and moral emptiness. Visible plastic pollution is an old complaint, too (years ago, plastic bags caught in trees were nicknamed “witches’ knickers”). What is new is the suspicion that microplastics are causing widespread harm to humans and the environment in an invisible, insidious manner. “Blue Planet 2”, a nature series presented by Sir David Attenborough that aired in Britain last October and in America in January, made the case beautifully. But the truth is that little is known about the environmental consequences of plastic—and what is known doesn’t look hugely alarming.
More...
https://www.economist.com/news/internat ... a/102487/n
So far, it seems less bad than other kinds of pollution (about which less fuss is made)
Excerpt:
The perception of plastics as ugly, unnatural, inauthentic and disposable is not new. Even in “The Graduate” they symbolised America’s consumerism and moral emptiness. Visible plastic pollution is an old complaint, too (years ago, plastic bags caught in trees were nicknamed “witches’ knickers”). What is new is the suspicion that microplastics are causing widespread harm to humans and the environment in an invisible, insidious manner. “Blue Planet 2”, a nature series presented by Sir David Attenborough that aired in Britain last October and in America in January, made the case beautifully. But the truth is that little is known about the environmental consequences of plastic—and what is known doesn’t look hugely alarming.
More...
https://www.economist.com/news/internat ... a/102487/n
We Can Stop the Poaching of Big Cats. Here’s How.
Just seven years ago in India’s magnificent Manas National Park, there were no tigers to speak of, just a few remnants of a population wiped out after decades of civil unrest that left the park’s wildlife vulnerable to persecution.
Now there are more than 30 tigers in Manas, a remarkable recovery achieved in record time thanks to a robust collaboration among the Indian Forest Department, local and international nongovernmental organizations, and law enforcement agencies, all working together to secure the park and protect it from poachers.
The success in Manas shows that stopping poaching at the source can bring tigers back from the brink.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/opin ... dline&te=1
Just seven years ago in India’s magnificent Manas National Park, there were no tigers to speak of, just a few remnants of a population wiped out after decades of civil unrest that left the park’s wildlife vulnerable to persecution.
Now there are more than 30 tigers in Manas, a remarkable recovery achieved in record time thanks to a robust collaboration among the Indian Forest Department, local and international nongovernmental organizations, and law enforcement agencies, all working together to secure the park and protect it from poachers.
The success in Manas shows that stopping poaching at the source can bring tigers back from the brink.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/opin ... dline&te=1
Should Some Species Be Allowed to Die Out?
As the list of endangered animals worldwide grows longer, society may soon be faced with an impossible decision: which ones to take off life support.
Excerpt:
As a result, our role as stewards of the earth is becoming more and more like that of doctors in a global intensive-care unit, trapped in a cycle of heroic, end-of-life measures. Many conservationists now operate in a state of constant maintenance: endlessly working to weed out invasive plants and predators, while trying to prop up species that have fallen into decline. At worst, an endangered animal becomes a literal ward of the state: preserved only in breeding facilities or in tiny, meticulously maintained “wild” habitats. “They’re like patients that are never going to be discharged from the hospital,” the environmental writer Emma Marris told me. “It’s a permanent situation.”
The official term for such species is “conservation-reliant.” When I spoke with Michael Scott, a wildlife biologist at the University of Idaho who helped direct the California condor research effort, he estimated that roughly 84 percent of species on the United States endangered list are currently conservation-reliant. Of those, he added, a vast majority are in Hawaii. “Hawaii is the world capital of conservation-reliant species,” Scott said.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/maga ... dline&te=1
As the list of endangered animals worldwide grows longer, society may soon be faced with an impossible decision: which ones to take off life support.
Excerpt:
As a result, our role as stewards of the earth is becoming more and more like that of doctors in a global intensive-care unit, trapped in a cycle of heroic, end-of-life measures. Many conservationists now operate in a state of constant maintenance: endlessly working to weed out invasive plants and predators, while trying to prop up species that have fallen into decline. At worst, an endangered animal becomes a literal ward of the state: preserved only in breeding facilities or in tiny, meticulously maintained “wild” habitats. “They’re like patients that are never going to be discharged from the hospital,” the environmental writer Emma Marris told me. “It’s a permanent situation.”
The official term for such species is “conservation-reliant.” When I spoke with Michael Scott, a wildlife biologist at the University of Idaho who helped direct the California condor research effort, he estimated that roughly 84 percent of species on the United States endangered list are currently conservation-reliant. Of those, he added, a vast majority are in Hawaii. “Hawaii is the world capital of conservation-reliant species,” Scott said.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/maga ... dline&te=1
Bigger Is Not Better for Ocean Conservation
SAN FRANCISCO — I have spent my entire life pushing for new protected areas in the world’s oceans. But a disturbing trend has convinced me that we’re protecting very little of real importance with our current approach.
From Hawaii to Brazil to Britain, the establishment of large marine protected areas, thousands of square miles in size, is on the rise. These areas are set aside by governments to protect fisheries and ecosystems; human activities within them generally are managed or restricted. While these vast expanses of open ocean are important, their protection should not come before coastal waters are secured. But in some cases, that’s what is happening.
Near-shore waters have a greater diversity of species and face more immediate threats from energy extraction, tourism, development, habitat degradation and overfishing. If we leave these places at risk, we’re not really accomplishing the goal of protecting the seas.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/opin ... 3053090321
SAN FRANCISCO — I have spent my entire life pushing for new protected areas in the world’s oceans. But a disturbing trend has convinced me that we’re protecting very little of real importance with our current approach.
From Hawaii to Brazil to Britain, the establishment of large marine protected areas, thousands of square miles in size, is on the rise. These areas are set aside by governments to protect fisheries and ecosystems; human activities within them generally are managed or restricted. While these vast expanses of open ocean are important, their protection should not come before coastal waters are secured. But in some cases, that’s what is happening.
Near-shore waters have a greater diversity of species and face more immediate threats from energy extraction, tourism, development, habitat degradation and overfishing. If we leave these places at risk, we’re not really accomplishing the goal of protecting the seas.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/opin ... 3053090321
5 Plants and Animals Utterly Confused by Climate Change
Global warming is causing spring to arrive early and autumn to come late in many places, and not all species are adapting at the same rate.
Every year, as the seasons change, a complex ballet unfolds around the world. Trees in the Northern Hemisphere leaf out in the spring as frost recedes. Caterpillars hatch to gorge on leaves. Bees and butterflies emerge to pollinate flowers. Birds leave the Southern Hemisphere and fly thousands of miles to lay eggs and feast on insects in the north.
All of these species stay in sync with each other by relying on environmental cues, much as ballet dancers move to orchestral music.
But global warming is changing the music, with spring now arriving several weeks earlier in parts of the world than it did a few decades ago. Not all species are adjusting to this warming at the same rate, and, as a result, some are falling out of step.
Scientists who study the changes in plants and animals triggered by seasons have a term for this: phenological mismatch. And they’re still trying to understand exactly how such mismatches — like the blooming of a flower before its pollinator emerges — might affect ecosystems.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/clim ... dline&te=1
Global warming is causing spring to arrive early and autumn to come late in many places, and not all species are adapting at the same rate.
Every year, as the seasons change, a complex ballet unfolds around the world. Trees in the Northern Hemisphere leaf out in the spring as frost recedes. Caterpillars hatch to gorge on leaves. Bees and butterflies emerge to pollinate flowers. Birds leave the Southern Hemisphere and fly thousands of miles to lay eggs and feast on insects in the north.
All of these species stay in sync with each other by relying on environmental cues, much as ballet dancers move to orchestral music.
But global warming is changing the music, with spring now arriving several weeks earlier in parts of the world than it did a few decades ago. Not all species are adjusting to this warming at the same rate, and, as a result, some are falling out of step.
Scientists who study the changes in plants and animals triggered by seasons have a term for this: phenological mismatch. And they’re still trying to understand exactly how such mismatches — like the blooming of a flower before its pollinator emerges — might affect ecosystems.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/clim ... dline&te=1
How Big Forests Solve Global Problems
Excerpt:
Intact forests today total around 11.8 million square kilometers (about 4.6 million square miles), according to estimates by a group of researchers and organizations, including Greenpeace, Global Forest Watch, World Resources Institute, Transparent World, University of Maryland, World Wildlife Fund of Russia and Wildlife Conservation Society. That’s roughly the United States and Mexico combined. It’s about a quarter of the planet’s total forest area, the rest of which is fragmented by roads, mines, cities and agriculture. Over 7 percent has been lost since 2000. Keeping the rest is a key to turning around three stubborn global trends: climate change, the sixth great extinction crisis and the loss of human cultures.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/opin ... dline&te=1
Excerpt:
Intact forests today total around 11.8 million square kilometers (about 4.6 million square miles), according to estimates by a group of researchers and organizations, including Greenpeace, Global Forest Watch, World Resources Institute, Transparent World, University of Maryland, World Wildlife Fund of Russia and Wildlife Conservation Society. That’s roughly the United States and Mexico combined. It’s about a quarter of the planet’s total forest area, the rest of which is fragmented by roads, mines, cities and agriculture. Over 7 percent has been lost since 2000. Keeping the rest is a key to turning around three stubborn global trends: climate change, the sixth great extinction crisis and the loss of human cultures.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/opin ... dline&te=1
The Floral Gospel
How the Plant Messiah saves species from the brink of extinction
When we talk about climate change and conservation, animals tend to steal the show. Yet the organisms whose extinction would affect us the most are actually plants. Horticulturalist Carlos Magdalena has become known as the Plant Messiah for his work using groundbreaking, left-field techniques to save endangered species. First captivated by the bogs and flowers of his native Spain, Carlos has spent much of his professional life in greenhouses and laboratories—and traveling the world, from the Amazon to Australia—to resurrect plants of all shades. And with his new book, he’s on a mission to change the way we see the flora around us by spreading the good word about green things.
More...
https://theamericanscholar.org/the-flor ... urce=email#
*****
Red Sky in Morning, Fisherman’s Warning
Climate change in the Gulf of Maine
One year ago, lobsterman Richard Nelson gave the following presentation at the Maine Climate March in Augusta.
As a lobsterman, I’m often asked to comment on climate related subjects since our lives are linked to the day-to-day realities of climate change. Those stories do need to be told, but somehow, in preparing to speak here, I wondered if the changes in the natural world that I am experiencing are not that much different than those perceived by a hiker, gardener, or daily dog walker. What is it about our collective vision that brings us all here today? What is it that seems to connect our very souls to our natural environment, and allows us to see these climate changes?
More....
https://theamericanscholar.org/red-sky- ... uTmOuSotbs
How the Plant Messiah saves species from the brink of extinction
When we talk about climate change and conservation, animals tend to steal the show. Yet the organisms whose extinction would affect us the most are actually plants. Horticulturalist Carlos Magdalena has become known as the Plant Messiah for his work using groundbreaking, left-field techniques to save endangered species. First captivated by the bogs and flowers of his native Spain, Carlos has spent much of his professional life in greenhouses and laboratories—and traveling the world, from the Amazon to Australia—to resurrect plants of all shades. And with his new book, he’s on a mission to change the way we see the flora around us by spreading the good word about green things.
More...
https://theamericanscholar.org/the-flor ... urce=email#
*****
Red Sky in Morning, Fisherman’s Warning
Climate change in the Gulf of Maine
One year ago, lobsterman Richard Nelson gave the following presentation at the Maine Climate March in Augusta.
As a lobsterman, I’m often asked to comment on climate related subjects since our lives are linked to the day-to-day realities of climate change. Those stories do need to be told, but somehow, in preparing to speak here, I wondered if the changes in the natural world that I am experiencing are not that much different than those perceived by a hiker, gardener, or daily dog walker. What is it about our collective vision that brings us all here today? What is it that seems to connect our very souls to our natural environment, and allows us to see these climate changes?
More....
https://theamericanscholar.org/red-sky- ... uTmOuSotbs
In India, Summer Heat May Soon Be Literally Unbearable
Excerpt:
Extreme heat can kill, as it did by the dozens in Pakistan in May. But as many of South Asia’s already-scorching cities get even hotter, scientists and economists are warning of a quieter, more far-reaching danger: Extreme heat is devastating the health and livelihoods of tens of millions more.
If global greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace, they say, heat and humidity levels could become unbearable, especially for the poor.
It is already making them poorer and sicker. Like the Kolkata street vendor who squats on his haunches from fatigue and nausea. Like the woman who sells water to tourists in Delhi and passes out from heatstroke at least once each summer. Like the women and men with fever and headaches who fill emergency rooms. Like the outdoor workers who become so weak or so sick that they routinely miss days of work, and their daily wages.
“These cities are going to become unlivable unless urban governments put in systems of dealing with this phenomenon and make people aware,” said Sujata Saunik, who served as a senior official in the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs and is now a fellow at the Harvard University School of Public Health. “It’s a major public health challenge.”
MORE...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/17/clim ... 3053090718
Excerpt:
Extreme heat can kill, as it did by the dozens in Pakistan in May. But as many of South Asia’s already-scorching cities get even hotter, scientists and economists are warning of a quieter, more far-reaching danger: Extreme heat is devastating the health and livelihoods of tens of millions more.
If global greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace, they say, heat and humidity levels could become unbearable, especially for the poor.
It is already making them poorer and sicker. Like the Kolkata street vendor who squats on his haunches from fatigue and nausea. Like the woman who sells water to tourists in Delhi and passes out from heatstroke at least once each summer. Like the women and men with fever and headaches who fill emergency rooms. Like the outdoor workers who become so weak or so sick that they routinely miss days of work, and their daily wages.
“These cities are going to become unlivable unless urban governments put in systems of dealing with this phenomenon and make people aware,” said Sujata Saunik, who served as a senior official in the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs and is now a fellow at the Harvard University School of Public Health. “It’s a major public health challenge.”
MORE...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/17/clim ... 3053090718